AMA - I work at a VC fund
willl try my best to be honest, ask me anything
TheOatmeal
Stealth
a year ago
How do someone get in?
TiredBirch1
Stealth
a year ago
Various ways to get in but below is the most common way funds hire (think 80% hiring follows this template)
Analyst - go to a branded school +2-3 years of MBB
Associate/AVP - strong operating role for 5-6 years in India followed by M7 MBA in US/pre MBA analyst experience
VP/Principal - strong operating/consulting background + prolific Angel investor
Partner - rarely hired, usually grows internally from Principal level or start your own fund after a successful founder exit
TheOatmeal
Stealth
a year ago
Interested in Associate roles but generally the career pages are empty. Do we need to approach someone ?
What would be a good way to start searching?
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How’s the environment right now?
Better than 6 months back? Or does the slump continue?
TiredBirch1
Stealth
a year ago
Environment is better than the last 6 months but far far away from the peak markets.. growth deals have started to pickup in Q3.. companies are constantly pegged to public market multiples even at series B/C.. however all the funds have a lot of dry powder so there are a few crazy (10M seed chqs) for highly pedigreed folks
Thanks for getting back
Why growth deals? Seed startups now struggling and hence okay with low valuations?
TiredBirch1
Stealth
a year ago
AI, climate and D2C brands
@TiredBirch1 good to meet you here. I look at climate investments at my fund as well
Quick question: where are you on vol. carbon markets? Yay or nay?
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hellloworld
Stealth
a year ago
When will this winter end
TiredBirch1
Stealth
a year ago
This is normal world. Life was this pre 2019. Covid years were an anomaly which will never come back. So never?
Baingan
Student
a year ago
are seed rounds expected to pick up soon in India?
TiredBirch1
Stealth
a year ago
Don’t expect to get $2-3M just with an idea in this market. Even at seed stage funds want to chat with few initial customers. Either bootstrap to few 100 customers, build a broken MVP or raise a $500k chq from micro VCs. YC is a great option for first time founders too!
Why are VCs not scared about how forced the AI bubble feels? Are there not learnings from Web 3?
Not saying that AI is amazing and a big opportunity, but 30 funds from India investing in 3-4 startups each - is it unclear which teams/spaces will be big?
TiredBirch1
Stealth
a year ago
It’s the power law.. VC is not a comission game, but an omission game. You lose $2M for being wrong in a deal but make couple hundred from one company that scales well.
TiredBirch1
Stealth
a year ago
Very good. But no free lunch. You work 2x-3x as hard and are expected to be available round the clock. Not for the ones who value WLB.
Sequoia
Stealth
a year ago
Which job isn’t exactly hard in the startup ecosystem or in any other professional setup? Sales dept take hard targets & get money in the company while being least appreciated across sectors. Founders juggle multiple things & make payrolls month after month, no one can understand the mindset/stress unless you employ & pay even 2 employees regularly.
Besides VC, which other job gives the highest paycheck + social capital + wide upward mobility options + long feedback loops that don’t hamper your promotion for the next 5 years?
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KnottyPillar
Stealth
a year ago
What do you spend most of you time doing - DD, scouting, events, helping out portcos?
Can you provide pay benchmarking for a few Indian VCs at an analyst level?
TiredBirch1
Stealth
a year ago
Varies by fund. More junior = more outbound and less portfolio. Changes as you gain seniority.
TiredBirch1
Stealth
a year ago
Unfortunately no, unless you’re a CTO or a very successful PM
user_129
Stealth
a year ago
What's ur carry
TiredBirch1
Stealth
a year ago
5% of funds carry. If the fund carry is $100 i get $5 out of it. Large portion goes to GPs
Interesting. What role are you in? And what's the rough size of the VC fund?
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What do the investors consider to decide whether and how much to invest in a venture? Even during the peak times, some investments just didn't make sense and to the naive eyes the ideas themselves appeared to not be successful
TiredBirch1
Stealth
a year ago
It never will make sense because it is not scientific. Price at the early stage is discovery of the market. Founders try to get the best offer they can by talking yo multiple funds and if you’re a pedigreed founder then all funds show interest and price goes up. There is no multiple/valuation benchmarking that happens. 1.5-2.5M seed is normal. Beyond that everything is price driven by the market
Sabre
Student
a year ago
What are the salaries 5-10 years down the line-Indian context . How does it compare to careers in consulting and PMs at big tech money wise. Can you quote some figures/range for the time line?
TiredBirch1
Stealth
a year ago
VC salaries vary by fund size. Partners make 8-10Cr per year at large funds. This is salary but the real money is in carry.
chanakya
Stealth
a year ago
How much is the average carry that VCs make by YOE/designation?
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@TiredBirch1 : Has Roman saini from Unacademy been given an exit via secondary share sale ?
user_129
Stealth
a year ago
If this is true it's HUGE
Paaji
Stealth
a year ago
Why does Sequoia keep running into accounting scams ?
What kind of due diligence do you carry out before making an investment?
TiredBirch1
Stealth
a year ago
Customer calls, founder references, market references and financial dd (if there is data(
Audits too?
1. After an investment, how often do you audit the investee's books?
2. Do you usually invest against equity or participate in token raises as well or provide loans?
Warm connects vs responding to analysts on LinkedIn -> how do both paths to a pitch differ in terms of the actual decision
TiredBirch1
Stealth
a year ago
Doesn’t matter imo..analysts have a KPI of bubbling up interesting deals (and not take meetings) so if they find even one thing interesting they will push your case as it aligns with their incentives
mangoman
Stealth
a year ago
Thanks for doing this. Apologies if this is already answered but what are some evaluation metrics being preferred today? We’re coming out of a crazy decade of crazy valuations. What’s changed with valuation calculations since the pandemic?
TiredBirch1
Stealth
a year ago
Early stage companies are being pegged to public markets. Very rare to see companies raising large rounds pre revenue.
Marketingmidas
Stealth
a year ago
How do I enter as a marketeer?
TiredBirch1
Stealth
a year ago
Build a strong network. Try angel investing or running syndicates. You will make a compelling candidate
da_negotiator
Stealth
a year ago
Can I get a scout role(part time)? I'm already in a scout role. I'm a working professional.
TiredBirch1
Stealth
a year ago
Get the job by behaving the role. Start referring good quality deals to VCs. Make sure your POC who u refer deals to can champion your case at the fund.
BlondDune99
Student
a year ago
When do you think the market will recover?
RashWorld57
Stealth
a year ago
Nothing to recover, this is how it's been for long, as the OP said COVID was an anomaly.
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